BobbyCast Presents: Unsigned & Independent: 4. Tom O'Connor - Former Lobbyist Turned Musician

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Unsigned an Independent Episode four. As you've hopefully heard in the first three episodes, everyone's story in journey to get to Nashville has been so different. One of the goals for Kevin on the show of Unsigned and Independent is to let the listeners know that these artists haven't always had the dream of moving to Nashville to become a musician. Leaving a steady job and choosing a path of uncertainty away from home is not easy, but on this show, these artists tell Kevin why they've never looked back with regrets since moving to Nashville. Also, being on the road as an independent artist can be difficult for these musicians because they have to do everything themselves. So that's what Kevin does. He dives into some of the best and worst stories of what they've had to deal with. Please share this with the friend. It's a brand new show, Unsigned and Independent and the artist is Tom O'Connor. This week he has a song with Luke Combs. He's a former lobbyist in Washington, d C. Turned artist and he didn't pick up an instrument until after high school. He is Unsigned and Independent and the show starts now, Hey, this is Kevin O'Connell. Welcome back to Unsigned and Independent. This is episode four, and on this episode we have Tom O'Connor. Tom and I met through some mutual friends out here in Nashville at an event one night, and Tom started telling me some stories about being on the road with some artists, writing a song with Luke Coombs, becoming a lobbyist now musician, and I had to stop him in his tracks and I said, hey, hold on, I got a podcast coming. I'd love for you to be on it. Man. Let's get together, let's sit down, and we finally got to do that, so I think you'll enjoy this. Tom's a great guy, You've got great music. Make sure you follow him on social media at Tom O'Connor Music. Make sure you follow me as well at kick Off Kevin, and thanks for supporting the first three episodes of Unsigned and Independent. Make sure you share these on social media as well and support these artists, support their music. They're on a grind and it's really cool to hear their stories. And with that being said, let's get the episode four with Tom O'Connor. Tom, what's going on man? How you doing today? Good? How are you doing? Man? I'm doing good, doing good. Thanks for coming on here. Glad we get to sit down been trying to do this for a little while now, a few months, and we finally got it on the books, and look at us here we are. Yeah, I'm thrilled to be here, of course, of course, So I want to dive right into your story here, Tom, You're from New York, Is I correct? Correct? Okay? Being h Binghamton, Yeah, yeah, Binghamton, New York kind of like smack dab in the middle of the state, you know, like an hour south of Syracuse and then an hour north of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where they make the the office. Okay, well, how long have you been in Nashville? Then, I've been in Nashville. I just hit my nine year anniversary. Nine years, almost a decade. I know. Has it flown by so far? Yeah, it's it's it's so fast. I mean, it seems like just yesterday at the moment here, and I mean I look at the clock and the calendar and clock, and uh, I'm like, just yeah, it just flew by. When you first moved here, did you come here for a reason or did you just move here and just say hey, I'm just gonna give this a shot. What was your mindset? Yeah, uh, kind of a little weird backstory. I used to be a lobbyist in Washington, d C. Yeah, it's kind of crazy story. I mean I tell most people here and they look at me like I have two heads, and then they think it's like super interesting. Um. But yeah, I came out of college and uh I moved to Washington, d C. And work in government affairs, and uh I did that for a little while, and music was kind of a hobby at that point, and um, I had started kind of doing what I would call like the Virginia rock thing, um, you know, influenced by like the Dave Matthews and the John Mayors and uh, everything that I was doing there and and and it evolved just too much more than a hobby. And uh started kind of doing like the ninety Corridor thing, and we're playing shows from like Boston down to Charlotte and on the weekends and kind of being the weekend warrior. That just kind of took off as much more than a hobby. And um, a New Connor Nashville was the place to be, you know. I initially came here to be a writer. I thought the artist kind of thing was had passed me by. And then you know, I came down here and got into some good circles and uh it was with like Luke Holmbs and Tyler Reeve and Rob Snyder and Channing Wilson early on, and um, it really kind of opened the door to be an artist again or or pursue that as something legitimate. Did they tell you, hey, you should get into back being an artist or did it kind of just come on your own? Um, it kind of came on my own. I mean like when I first came down here the first year or two, all I did was right and it missed playing. Um, but the opportunities presented themselves and the climate completely changed. I mean, you know, I'm a bigger beardy guy, so it's like, hey, like when I came here, it was like kind of the pretty boy thing and the broad country thing, and um, but I think you know, guys like Luke Hoombs and Chris Stapleton changed all of that and it became much more about you know, songs and performance and vibe and relating to you know, kind of everyday blue collar culture, and um, it just broadened the genre and it wasn't kind of just always the beach you feel good, you know tailgate thing and um, you know, and I think that opened the door for it. And I had a lot of other artists that I was friends with around town. It's a big artist and they encouraged me to get out and start playing again and put out some music, um of my own. And you know, luckily, uh we put a little project out in and it it blew up, you know, beyond my wildest dreams. But that kind of really paid the way for where right now. And that project you're talking about was the song with Luke Combs that correct, Yeah, it was. Um it was a six song EP that uh we put out and uh Luke and I and Ray Fulture co wrote one of the songs on there, uh and he was gracious enough to sing on it. And uh it was probably the perfect time, kind of right before Hurricane hit number one, his first his first number one, and um, it really kind of blew up viral. E. We put that out with no promotion or no nothing. I just kind of wanted to have music out so that if I went out and played a show with you know, pal um or opened up a show that I had, you know, some music for people to take home with them or consume, and um, you know it just kind of blew up. Really that song it's called Deserves that correct that that's all That's a song on the EP with That's just the one that's definitely done the best. That's obviously your biggest song, right, Yeah. Did you asked Luke to sing on that with you? Or did he say, Hey, I'm gonna do this with you? We asked him. Yeah, it was we had written it together and he sang on the demo and I was like, man, I think I'm gonna put this song out and recorded it and I said, man, I really love the way he sang it. I said, I wonder if he would do it with me, I asked, and uh, graciously he agreed to do it, or he he let me put it out, and um, you know it kind of went from there. You know. The one agreement that I made with them was that I, you know, wouldn't push it to radio as a single or anything. And you know, which you know I was totally cool with. That wasn't even on my radar, you know. Yeah, yeah, so that was pre Luke holmbs of what he is today, right, I mean he was as it was taken off. You know. I think I put that song out in February and we were all together in Key West in May at the Key West Songwriters Festival and Hurricane had just hit number one three months later when we were you know, yeah, when we were together down there, and um, you know, so I think it was out on radio at that time when I put it out, but you know it wasn't you know, No, you know, everybody knew Luke was gonna be awesome and he was gonna be very successful. But I don't think anybody thought that's what I was gonna ask and not that when it was gonna be you know, to this right, I'm not sure. I'm not gonna make the world. I'm not gonna make this a Luke Combs thing. But I just think it's interesting getting a perspective from yours where you were with him before, your songwriting with him before, and he's a down to earth guy. Um, he's been here in the studio before. He's known as a great guy. So I just want to get your perspective as far as when you're writing songs with him before he ever blew up and then you're sitting there and then you see his success takeoff, and you've had your own success, but different kind of success. What's that been like for you to see that happen on your side? It's I mean, it's incredible just to even have been a small part of whatever that journey is or that he's been on and and it's definitely provided inspiration for me and probably way a million other people in this town, you know, to to pursue this. And it's, um, yeah, it's pretty it's pretty incredible, to be honest, that's pretty awesome because not a lot of people can say that. No, you can't say. I mean, I was. I was sitting with Luke holmbs six seven years ago writing songs with them, and and here he is, and he's still inspiring me till this day because I can see it in your you know, on your face and hear it in your voice where you you know, it's it's a big part of your life, I guess as part of as a musician for sure, for sure, And he's paved the way for a lot of you know, a lot of necessary not necessarily you know, mainstream artist. Um I think you know, yeah, I agree we'll going back to your lobbyist days. I want to ask you, uh, what are some similarities and differences than like the music industry compared to the DC lobbyist the good and the bad? You know, do you see any similarities or differences or did that help you at all? Oh? Absolutely, it's it's definitely a networking town. Um. And and you know, uh, d C, the whole d C UM, I don't even know what you want to call it nowadays, but it's all networking. It's all about relationships and uh, music industry and really all industries as you know, it's all about the relationships and networking. I think, UM, definitely a little bit more cutthroat in d C. And I'm certainly glad I'm not there now. The political climate is much different than it was when I was there. UM, but yeah, certainly similarities in terms of UM, you have to realize that everything is a business for one if if you're gonna do it for a living. UM, I think that kind of makes you treat the music industry as you know. Hey, it's like I'm in here in Nashville. Now, this isn't just like a hobby anymore. You know, there really is a business behind it and a and a massive machine behind it. Um. And I think that, you know, being a DC sort of kind of preparedy for that and certainly not on the same level, but you know, definitely some similarities. For sure. Was that I opening to you when you moved to Nashville and you realize, Okay, yeah, this is a business as well. This isn't just you know, we're gonna go out play for fun and or did you already know that? How that mind set coming in? I had that mindset coming in. Um. The one thing that I think I I didn't anticipate was, you know, if you live in Nashville, there's like no escape. I mean, everywhere you go, it's uh, you know, it's it's it turns into music business at some point. You know, like if you go out to the bar and have a couple of drinks, you're you're definitely gonna end up talking uh music business or shop with somebody. I mean, um, you know, or if you go out to dinner, you're gonna bump into somebody or pretty much every where you go, like you can't you can't really get away from it. Um. So that was definitely an adjustment And I think the other thing too, is like when you realize when you're not writing necessarily just for it to be um cathartic or to be um you know, just just for fun. You know, when you're you have to go right every day and you know certainly times that it's uh, you realize that it's a business and that you know, hey, this is my job. But I'm the same token. It's like, this is my job. How amazing is this? You know what I mean, I'd certainly much rather be doing this than anything else then, you know, being stuck behind a desk or you know, whatever it is. You know, yeah, absolutely Have you had your Broadway days out here yet? Did you do that earlier? No? I don't really play there, do you. I don't do Broadway. I I uh, I feel like I kind of did that before I moved here. I played a lot of the cover bar gigs, you know. Um, and you know when I came here, you know, like I said, I just kind of wanted to be a writer at first, and um, I didn't want to do the Broadway thing. Man, it's a grind. Cheers to the guys that do it, and you know, you can make a good living doing that and it's just you know, I don't know, just I want to play my songs and you know, do my thing, and you know that's you know, that's not for me interesting because you're the first person I've had on here where you've never really played on Broadway, never not been bad or part of your stick, I guess, which is to each their own. So has that been a struggle for you at all, because I, I know you make a chille on Broadway, but you have the mindset of you want to play what you want to play and not just cover songs the whole time. Yeah. So is that is that also a popular thing out here to artists come out here and have that mindset or are you kind of the only guy that you've talked to over the years. No, I think there's certainly there's many different paths to you know, success in this industry or to make it work for you, and um, you know, I think, just like anything else right now, you want to diversify, you know, your income streams, and um, do little things and what makes you happy. And I think there's a lot of people that came here and have the same mentality or maybe even more stubborn than I was UM and didn't want to compromise at all. And you know, some of those people were able to find their way through it, and some of those people are not here anymore. And you know that's the other thing is, you know, being here ten years, there's so many people that came to do this, um that are gone. You see, you see so many people coming gone, and uh, you know, yeah, I think there's a bunch of different paths. I don't know if I answer the question. I think we kind of got it all off. But no, that's all right, I mean, that's what It's just interesting to hear that because you're, like I said, you're the first person I've heard say that, So it's a different path, which is Yeah, it's cool to hear, like, there's not Broadway is not the only way to try to make it out here. Yeah, And I think there's plenty of people that didn't and don't and have incredible careers. You've been on a lot of tours. I don't know if I've been on a lot of tours. I've I've been at on a lot of shows with a lot of different people, at least not full tours. Okay, maybe I'm saying you've been on okay, let me rephrase that you've been on the road a lot. Okay, right, and you've had countless nights I'm sure good and bad. So I have to ask what do you what pops in your head when I say, hey, what is the probably the worst night that you've had on the road where you thought to yourself like is this really what I want to do? Like? Did I really pursue the right thing here? Do you have a good story for that? Yeah, I probably have a couple. Uh, There's been a lot of them over the year. This is one thing too, is like you know, it's especially being an independent artist, like being on the road, you have to answer spate that everything that can go wrong will and you know, at times it does, sometimes more often than you Like, we had one recently where you know, we we flew out to Austin and UM, the headliner that we were playing with, I don't want to say who it was, but uh, they canceled the show while we were in sound check. And you know, I flew a band out and UM had hotels and expenses and you know, got got hit on that one pretty hard. And uh, and you booked all that yourself, and I booked out all my stuff. Yeah, so there was that one. I was out on the road a couple of years ago with William Clark Green and Josh Abbott and I had drove up to the play the show and it was just an acoustic and I think I drove up to Ohio and we're with Dusty Armadillo and that was the first show of the wrong and we were playing an Indie the next day to each Second Saloon, and uh I drove with all my gear and everything, and they said, hey, why don't you ride the bus with us? And I was like, how am I gonna get back and get my car? And you know, after a few drinks and hanging out after the show, they're like, oh, we'll worry about it later. And uh so Will's tour manager actually or as manager actually got me a flight home from Indie or back to Ohio to get my car, and uh, you know we went and you know, continue to party on the bus on the way to sit to Indianapolis, and um, you know, really had a miserable next day and uh uh finally, you know, go to fly back to Indie and I'm looking at my flight and my cool I'm gonna get back to a reasonable hour i can drive home in Nashville, only to see that the flight had me because it was probably the cheapest flight, had bounced me around. I flew to Charlotte and then Atlanta and then back up to Cleveland and then had to take like, uh, you know, a pretty expensive uber from the airport to the to the venue to get my car, and then I was like, now I gotta drive home. And it was that one made me question and I'm like, I don't you know, have you ever heard that point where you're like, I don't know if I want to keep doing this or are you in this for good? Do you think I'm always gonna do it? I think we all tell ourselves that and get to that point at different times. And that was kind of one of the other things that I discovered when I when I came here and being friends with a lot of bigger artists and and people across the spectrum of the the industry is like, um, I always thought that like, hey, if you got to a certain point you were successful and you were making money and making your living, that you know, that goes away and and it doesn't. I've talked to some of the biggest artists on the planet and they, you know, they have doubts at times. I hear them confide in me at different times and be like, hey, I don't know if I should do this anymore. I think I'm done or this and that, and you know, some of these people are mega, mega successful, And then you realized that, you know, it's hey, that's just natural. In the industry that we're in. It's always a roller coaster. That's not your regular nine to five jobs. So you know, there's a lot of highs and lows. So I think on some level, I'll always question it, but I know, deep down I'll always do it. You like that roller coaster, though, I don't know if anybody. You almost don't know if anybody loves that part of it. But you know what I mean, have like a different mindset. You have to know and and thrive off of it. The ups and the downs and the yes and the nose. Yeah, you totally have to adapt and learned to be okay with it. Uh. You know, I I've come a long way. I wouldn't say I'm a percent there, but I don't know if anybody is is that something that you've have you developed that at all? Like has it gotten like thicker skin for that over the years. I mean, and you have to have it if you want to do music. I mean, um, you just have to. I mean, because you're gonna hear no way more than you're gonna have a yes, or there's gonna be a hundred things that you do wrong before you get a really good moment or you know what I mean. Um, so yeah, but I mean you just have to take a lot of that criticism or nose with a grain of salt and you know, take the emotion out of it. Sometimes it stinks when somebody says something like right in the beginning, But um, if you take the step back after the you know, the initial shock of somebody saying something or not liking something, you know, oftentimes they're right about their feedback. I've learned that over the years. I think that's part of it too, is like what somebody tells you something, it's not because they're trying to put you down. They are really trying to point out why you know it's no and you and you have to make it not personal. And that's the hardest thing, you know, what I mean, especially when it comes to what we do because we're creative and we're sensitive and like like, hey, you know it means you think it's the best thing in the world. And somebody's like, yeah, you know you're independent. Is that something that you plan on sticking with, staying with or you're feeling it out and riding the wave as it goes and if something comes along, Um, I'm taking it as it comes. I mean, I I certainly would love to find the right partners Um. I've had a lot of different opportunities over the years to work with different folks and it just hasn't been the right fit for me and for what I want to do. And UM, I've had the luxury of you know, being able to make a living and being able to make um enough revenue off of what I'm doing that UM, anybody that I kind of partner with, I wanted to be a partnership and I want to to have you know, believe in what I'm doing and um be able to take it to the next level and and do something with it. UM. So yeah, I totally. I think more so in the last few years, I think I certainly have spent the first part of my time in Nashville kind of finding my identity and you know, developing my craft and getting to the point where I think I'm you know, a package that's ready to succeed with with somebody else, you know. Um, so definitely open to working with other you know, whether it be labels or whether it be whoever, if the right opportunity comes along. Absolutely, you never want to take the wrong deal. I've seen too many people in this town, you know, sign the wrong record deals or work with the wrong people and and they're screwed in their career is pretty much over or there, you know, on hiatus for years because they you know, they got in bed with the wrong folks. Yeah, I'm sure that happens. Uh quite offen actually actually here. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it's a business and you can get ugly. Yeah. Well, what's going on with you in the future here in the near future, you've got anything big planned or yeah? Um, any singles or music coming out anything like that. Yeah. So I just finished a project with UH producer Paul ever Saw, who just did UH the Morgen Wade record with Sadler and um, he did a lot all the three doors down stuff back in midday and uh, sister Hazel and a lot of this, a lot of this nineties rock stuff that I really love too, and um is heavily influenced to my music. Um so yeah, So we just did a project. Um literally just finished it, hoping to put out the first song I would say in the first quarter of next year. Really excited for people here, and I think it's the best stuff that I've ever done or ever put out. I want to leave you with this final question here, because you're a guy that had a completely different path that you're going down being a lobbyist in Washington, d C. And now you're making music and performing in Nashville for the last nine years. So what do you have to say? If somebody's listening to this and you know they're doing a job that they just don't really enjoy and they want to go pursue something, whether it's music or anything else, what would your advice to them be? Life is too short, Go do it. I mean, you know, save up as much money as you can where you're at and and and make the make the jump. And you know, if you really love it and you really believe in it, you'll make it work, you know. I mean if that means working side jobs, are doing you know, whatever it takes, you know, borrowing money from you know, family or friends or whatever, just to get yourself off the ground. Um. But yeah, just go all in. I mean, I think one of my biggest regrets was not doing it sooner. You know. I I was afraid to jump from that you know, nine to five job where I had the security of health insurance and um regular salary. And you know I waited probably a couple of years too long in my opinion, But you know, just do it. I don't have any regrets looking back I should have done other than not doing it soon. So I mean, I really, yeah, life's too short man. It makes you happy, you know, and it's you know, life's not always about the biggest paycheck. And you know, if you love what you do, I mean, quality and happiness in life is a whole lot more important. Love it love It. Couldn't have said it any better myself, Tom, I appreciate you coming in here. If you're on social media, make sure you follow him at Tom O'Connor music. Is that correct? All those no ease, all those no ease like yeah, I love it. Like I said, O'Connor, O'Connor, and we got the Irish boys in here. Man, this has been a lot of fun. I appreciate you coming in. Yeah, man, thank you so much for having me. I'm glad we got to do this of course. Of course, best of luck with everything moving forward, looking forward to all your work in the future here and let's do this again sometime definitely, anytime, all right, Thanks Tom,